The Tao of Hockey (Vancouver Vice #1)

by Melanie Ting

  “Better. I was walking around and doing a few things today.”

  “No lifting, right?”

  “Nope. What’s to lift? But I had to turn down a job today.”

  “Oh no, really? A stunt job?” Of course it was. She could do the courier thing whenever she wanted. I sighed.

  “Do you feel guilty?” Josie asked.

  “Of course I do. I did this to you, and now you’re missing out on a job and a paycheque.”

  “I could feel better if we had pizza for dinner. Like real pizza—with mozzarella, mushroom, and pepperoni. Not healthy pizza made out of cardboard and kale.”

  “Josie, you’re manipulating me!”

  “Is it working?” She nestled further in the pillows and giggled.

  I bent down and kissed her again. Then I stroked her hair. “Why are you so flipping adorable?”

  “I think it’s the pain meds. I feel like I’m having an out-of-body experience.” She giggled again. “And I didn’t even have to go to the desert.”

  I laughed and carefully put an arm around her. “You’re cute.”

  “I’m also happy you got back on the team.”

  “It’s going to be tough. Panner looked like he wanted to strangle me right on the spot.” I dug out the paperwork I’d gotten from Coach Lee and H.R. “I’ve got my schedule. Practice tomorrow. I’m home for the next ten days, and then we leave on a road trip. I’m going to have to find someone to take care of you when I’m gone.”

  “Maybe I’ll be better by then. Anyway, I can find someone myself. I appreciate your doing all this, but I’m not your responsibility.”

  “Okay.” It was great to get to spend all this time together, but I still had to navigate around her independence.

  She was reading through my schedule. “You go away for weeks at a time?”

  “Yeah. We have road trips—on a bus. So we hit all the teams in the area. Is that a problem?”

  “No, it’s great.” She patted my hand. “Nothing personal, but I like being alone sometimes.”

  Was this an invitation to keep living here after she got better? I wasn’t going to presume, but I could hope. With Josie, taking things slowly was key.

  She pulled out a large pink post-it. “What’s this? ‘Eric, so happy you’re back on the team! I’d love to take you out for lunch and give you the inside scoop on how things work around here. Brenda.’ And there are hearts all around this! Does this chick have a crush on you?”

  I blushed. “Yeah. I guess.” Then I braced myself for what was going to happen next. Sunny used to go ballistic when crap like this happened.

  Josie threw back her head and laughed. “Owww, my ribs. Oh Eric, you crazy ladies’ man, you.”

  “It doesn’t bother you?”

  She snorted. “Why? When you’re not into me anymore, I assume you’ll have the decency to tell me. But I am pretty awesome.”

  I kissed her. “The awesomest. I’m hungry. Did you want dinner?”

  She smiled at me and nodded.

  “Okay, where’s the pizza menu?”

  “Ahhh, perfect. This means I’m still into you,” she declared.

  “You’d get rid of me if I didn’t feed you pizza?”

  “I have executed men for less.”

  Josie was still weak, so after dinner we settled for watching a movie on her laptop. But even then, she started to doze off.

  “Hey, sleepyhead. I’m going to tuck you into bed now.”

  She nodded and went off to her bedroom. When I came in, she was already in bed.

  “I’ll put your water and pain stuff here. Do you need anything else before you go to sleep?”

  “Are you sleeping in the living room again?”

  “Yeah, I was planning to.”

  She rolled her eyes. “What’s the point of having a hot guy look after me if he sleeps on the couch?”

  “It’s for your own good.” If I slept beside her, it was going to lead to something that would hurt her ribs.

  “Have you done this before—looked after someone?”

  “Nope. Only for you, babe.”

  Something softened in Josie’s expression, but her voice was still mocking. “That’s pretty fucking sweet.”

  I lay down on the bed beside her. I put a hand on her hip, and she rolled to face me, wincing a little.

  “So, you think I’m a hot guy?”

  “Don’t start, Eric. You know.”

  “I want to hear it from you.”

  She snorted. “Okay, Mr. Needy. When I first saw you, I thought you were totally gorgeous. I wanted to rip your clothes off and do you right on the table at the pub.”

  I laughed. “There. Was that so hard?”

  “Yes. It hurt me. My ribs hurt.”

  “Your ribs hurt whenever I make you do something you don’t want to. You’re a wimp.”

  “Nobody has ever called me that before. I’m a freaking stunt woman—taking pain is my job.”

  “Mine too,” I pointed out.

  “Great. We can have a pain-off to see who’s tougher. Fire up the branding irons.”

  I laughed and tried to cuddle her without touching her ribs. Squeezing her ass seemed to work—for me, anyway.

  “Josie, can I ask you something? If you liked me so much, how come you practically ran away the first times we saw each other?”

  She didn’t answer right away.

  “I don’t know. When I saw you guys, I wrote you off as assholes. You all had this physical presence—like you owned the space around you. It reminded me of the jock table in high school. Then you started betting on picking up women.”

  “How did you know? You couldn’t have heard us from where you were sitting.”

  “I could tell by watching. That’s why I like to go to bars. Instead of TV, I get to see all the sex and drama live.”

  “You know what I don’t get—why didn’t I see you when I came in? Because once I saw you….”

  “That’s easy. It’s this aura thing. I learned it from being on sets—all the good actresses can do it. You project confidence and you’re visible. Or you act shy and you disappear into the background.”

  “Seems like magic. But let’s get back to the part where you wanted to rip my clothes off.”

  Josie laughed—her full-throated laugh that I loved. Then she winced. “Well, I thought you were good looking, and your body... oh yeah. Jocks are usually jerks though. But you had this detached quality even amongst your buddies.” She put her hand up to my cheek. “It was like you were lonely too.”

  Had she even noticed that she admitted she was lonely? That only made me love her more. I kissed the hand resting on my face.

  “So you turned on your magic aura and drew me to you?”

  She smacked me in the chest. “You, of all people, shouldn’t make fun of auras.”

  “I wasn’t. It’s what happened.”

  “Yeah. Like a butterfly to the light.”

  I caressed her hand. “I’m pretty sure you’re the one who came on to me.”

  “Maybe. You were hot so I thought, why not? It’s just one night.”

  “But then you backed out when you saw the interlock.”

  “I bet that was a first for you, getting turned down.”

  I shook my head. I’d been turned down before, but never once the woman had agreed to come home with me.

  “I was going on intuition. I thought you were a good guy under all the macho posturing. But when I saw you blow into that thing, it gave me second thoughts. I knew nothing about you, and you could be some criminal with a handsome face who was going to strangle me after we had sex!”

  “That’s crazy.”

  “I know. My inner nice-girl comes out at the worst times. I could hear my mom’s voice telling me to be careful.”

  I had more questions, but I could hear the fatigue in her voice. I kissed her on the forehead.

  “Good night, Josie.” I started to get out of bed.

  “A forehead kiss? And now y
ou’re leaving me alone in bed? Does a punctured lung make me less attractive or something?”

  I laughed. “You are as gorgeous as ever. But if I spend all night lying beside this body, something’s gonna happen.

  “What if I want something to happen?”

  “You heard what the nurse said.”

  “She said it would be okay if you didn’t contact my ribs. You could go down on me....”

  “I could.” That sounded like fun. “But what about me?”

  “You could get naked and jerk off in front of me. That’s always been a fantasy of mine.”

  “Josie!”

  “What? I’d do it for you—if I was well.”

  That was a debt I wouldn’t mind collecting. I took off my t-shirt and got back into bed with her.

  “You comfortable?”

  “Yes. Except I’m a little hot.” She was a lot hot in my opinion.

  I undid her flannel shirt. Josie was wearing button-down clothing because it was more comfortable to get on. Underneath she was naked and I pulled the shirt to her sides. She raised herself to let me take it off completely.

  “Well, look at that. Peach fuzz.” I ran my hand over the dark hair where the V of her legs met.

  “I know. The Vancouver General doesn’t have a waxing bar. Can you believe it?”

  “Mmmm.” I blew on her hair and she shivered a little. I carefully pushed up her knees so I could access her pussy. “You okay?”

  “Not yet….”

  I ran my tongue slowly over her pussy lips, and she sighed with pleasure. “Yes, I’m feeling better now.”

  I used my fingers to spread her open and popped the hood off her tiny clit. Not fucking Josie for a week had made me extra-horny, and I wanted to get her off before I exploded. I poked the little button with the tip of my tongue, then sucked on it. Josie wriggled a little, but I could tell that she wasn’t able to move around much. I watched to make sure she was okay. Judging from the sounds she was making, everything was fine.

  It didn’t take Josie long to come. I got off the bed.

  “Where you going?” she murmured.

  “Nowhere.” I put my hands on her hips. “Can you move your hips to the edge of the bed?”

  She gingerly crab-crawled over, trying not to move her upper body much. Once she was sideways on the bed, I put a pillow behind her head, and a couple at her sides.

  “What’s happening?” she asked.

  “I’m going to help you get to sleep.” I pulled down my jeans and boxer briefs. Josie smiled lazily at the sight of me naked.

  “This is more like it. When a hot guy wants to take care of me—this is what I had in mind.”

  I waved my boner at her. “I’ll take care of you, baby.”

  “Could you be any cornier?” Josie started giggling. “No, owww. Don’t make me laugh, it hurts.”

  “You’re not supposed to laugh at a guy who’s naked and ready to do you.” I took a condom from her bedside table where we kept them. Then I knelt on the floor between her spread legs. She was watching me with half-closed eyes.

  “Okay, tell me if it hurts anytime, and I’ll stop.” But could I really stop? Once I was inside Josie, all conscious thought went out the window. I eased my aching hard-on into her hot depths. It felt so fucking good that I pushed in deep and fast and then pulled out. I could see Josie trying to meet my motions by rising up.

  “No.” I put a hand on her stomach. “Lie there. Really, I want to make it good for you—I want to do everything.”

  She fell back, and I moved my hand down until my fingertips were resting on her clit. I pushed my whole hand down and started fucking her again. In and out—this glorious sensation of being inside her was so fucking incredible. For Josie, having to stay still was intensifying the sensations. The pressure of my hand on her and my cock inside her was unreal for both of us.

  “Oh God, yes,” she panted. Her eyes were tightly closed, and her hands gripped the sheets. Was she coming? I fucking hoped so. I stroked in and out of her, and the pleasure was intense. I started to come and come.

  Afterwards, my legs felt weak, but I carefully lifted Josie up and tucked her back into bed. She moaned a little, and I kissed her on the mouth. Then I slipped into bed beside her. I leaned over her to see if she was asleep yet. Her eyes were closed, and her breathing was regular. I lay back down and slid one hand over her hip.

  What an incredible day. I was back on the team and things were perfect with Josie. Again I felt joy surging through me. Maybe I hadn’t made the NHL, and maybe I never would. But it was hard to imagine how things could be better. I had set my own goals, gone after them—and won! Now I was going to enjoy every moment—just like someone else in this bed.

  “I love you, Josie.” She was asleep, but my excitement was uncontrollable.

  Josie shifted slightly, and her words were only muttered. But I still heard them.

  “Love you too.”

  I waited for more reaction, but there was none. She seemed to be fast asleep.

  Maybe it was the post-orgasm high, the pain meds, or the fact she was semi-conscious. But she loved me, no matter how cool she acted. I hadn’t thought I could feel any happier, but now I did.

  I closed my eyes and relaxed into that good feeling.

  31

  Third Star

  Two months later

  “And the third star of the game, from your own Vancouver Vice—Eric Fairburn.”

  I skated out to the faint cheers of the remaining fans. Most of the crowd had left early, reasonably assuming that we weren’t going to come back from being down four. And we hadn’t, but I had scored both our goals. Being a star in a 5-2 loss wasn’t a huge personal achievement, but tonight’s game was a special one for me.

  Back in the dressing room, the guys weren’t particularly upset about the loss. Unfortunately, losing was something we had gotten used to. And it was only December. Coach Panner came in and ran down all the issues we’d had tonight. I wasn’t really listening because he’d repeat the same speech tomorrow while we watched the game lowlights.

  I got changed quickly. I was sitting beside Marty Devonshire. At one time, I was going to live with Devo, but I hadn’t needed to. I managed to parlay my stint looking after Josie into permanent roommate status. My regular road trips gave her all the time alone that she needed.

  Or maybe it was sex. Luckily, Josie’s ribs had healed quickly and we hadn’t had to wait that long to have intense sex again. We had tried to achieve the Tantric ideal of long sex sessions without male orgasms, but being inside Josie felt too good and I’d never succeeded. But we were having fun trying—trying all kinds of new things. Sex with total trust was the best.

  Still, between road trips and Josie’s convalescence, this was the first time she’d been to one of my games. Her first hockey game ever, and I could hardly wait to hear what she thought of it.

  I hurried out to the concourse where I’d asked her to meet me. No way I was putting her anywhere near where the players came out.

  “Eric! Eric!”

  A couple of preteen girls spotted me and wanted autographs. I signed their jerseys and then they wanted selfies with me too. As I posed with one, my eyes were drawn to Josie. She was leaning against the counter of the closed concession. We smiled at each other, and then I noticed she was wearing these high black motorcycle boots with buckles that I hadn’t seen before. That looked really hot, and my cock started to harden.

  Click.

  The shutter sound of the phone brought my attention back to the young girls. Shit, I hoped my hard-on wasn’t in the photo. Oh, what the hell, maybe that would bring more fans to the games.

  They continued to talk non-stop. “Oh my God. This is incredible. Thank you so much, Eric.”

  “You’re our favourite player.”

  “You’re welcome. Thanks for supporting the team.”

  As I walked towards her, Josie immediately noticed my excitement and smirked.

  “Hey, beautiful.”


  “Hey, handsome.”

  I kissed her on the cheek.

  “You can do better than that.”

  I kissed her on the mouth, parting her soft lips and pushing my tongue inside. She tasted like artificial spices.

  “Josie, you didn’t eat a hot dog here, did you? They’re filled with chemicals.”

  “Oh no. It’s the food police. Arrest me, officer.” She held her wrists up mockingly, but I grabbed them in one hand and raised them above her head. Then I kissed her again, this time with an open-mouth and a lot of passion. I heard giggling and a click behind me.

  Josie looked up at me, with eyes clouded with desire. “Mmmm. Tastes better than a hot dog.”

  “Yeah, I’m jealous. I don’t want any hot dogs in your mouth but mine.”

  She laughed. “You’re bigger than the one I ate tonight. You’re a smokie, at least. Maybe a Jumbo.”

  I put an arm around her, and we started walking towards the player parking lot. Josie looked over my shoulder.

  “So, is our photo going to be reblogged on a hundred Tumblr sites tomorrow?” Her voice went up an octave. “Eric Fairburn is such a hottie!”

  “A dozen sites maybe. We’re not that big a deal. Does that bother you?”

  “Naw. I’m getting to go home with the third star of the game.”

  “That is impressive.”

  “Yeah, I got an offer from the first star, but he’s not that good-looking.”

  “What! Really?”

  She cackled. “No. I sat alone at the game, and the only person who talked to me wanted to sell me 50/50 tickets, whatever they are.”

  “You shouldn’t have been alone. Next time I can seat you with some of the wives and girlfriends.”

  “Eric. Really?” It was kind of hard to imagine Josie making nice with the other women. “I like being alone. If I want company, I’ll bring Cyn and Zach.”

  “That’s nice of you.”

  “Not really. When you guys started losing, I learned some new words. I can hardly wait to see what Zach can pick up. He’s at that stage where he repeats everything. Cyn will have a fit.”

  Josie had already bought a drum kit for Zachary’s Christmas gift, so it was exactly the kind of thing she would do. I still didn’t understand her family dynamics.